Uni Life

6 Ways to Stay Safe During Freshers' Week

If you’re off to university in September then no doubt you’ll have thought ahead to Freshers’ Week. Often termed “the best week of your life” (spoiler: it probably won’t be) Freshers’ Week is your opportunity to meet new people, get to know your new home and explore what university has to offer you for the next three years. Done right Freshers’ Week can be a lot of fun, but it also comes with a few risks which lots of Freshers don’t think about, so make sure you follow this checklist so your week isn’t spoilt by any avoidable trouble.

Try and do this ASAP so you don’t forget to do it later and so you don’t have to worry about finding a taxi when you need one. One thing you’ll quickly learn during Freshers’ Week is that you’ll soon get mixed up in the many tours, activities and socialising on offer. This means before you know it it’ll be 3am on your first night and you’ll suddenly have to find your way back to a room you’ve only spent an hour in. Take down that taxi number – just in case. It also means if you get lost in the daytime you have a backup to get you home and having a taxi number on hand is also useful for emergencies.

2) Write your address down and put it in your wallet/purse

Same thing as the taxi number: do this straight away and you won’t get in a difficult situation later on. Write it on a small piece of paper and tuck it away somewhere safe in your purse or wallet. Of course try and remember where you live as well, just in case you end up losing your purse or wallet!

3) Practise the route back to your halls/house

Depending on when you arrive you might not have time to do this, but it’s a good idea to get to know your way around as soon as possible. Practise the route from uni and the town centre back to your place of residence a few times during your first couple of days.

4) Try to stay in a three

This is mainly advice to take heed of on a night out. For obvious reasons you shouldn’t end up on your own and the ideal is to stay in a group of no less than three people. As much as you might feel like best friends after a day of knowing each other, it’s good to keep in mind that you’re in essence strangers and you don’t really know what the people you’re sharing halls with are like yet. A lot of people can also overdo it during Freshers’ Week and in a three you’ll be more equipped to deal with any emergencies.

5) Don’t feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to

If you feel uncomfortable then you’re entitled to say no. Everyone arrives at university wanting to make a good impression, get along with people and fit in and this means students can sometimes end up doing things they wouldn’t normally do during Freshers’ Week.

There’s nothing wrong with this, and for many a big part of Freshers’ Week is having a few funny stories to tell, but if you genuinely don’t want to do something, then don’t do it. This is massive part of looking after yourself at university, and if the people you’re with react badly to it then you probably aren’t going to be great friends with them anyway.

6) Be careful with your personal information

You arrive at university and you’re desperate to make friends. That’s pretty normal, but it doesn’t mean you should give out your phone number to everyone you meet and become Facebook friends with anyone who adds you. That can make you vulnerable to fraud which specifically targets students.

Be sensible and limit the amount of information you give out. After all, if you meet people who are really going to be your friends then you can get there details later on!